John Calvin writes at American Spectator:

For those who don't follow "international football," Real Madrid is one of the marquee sports teams in the world. Think of them as the New York Yankees of soccer whose players are megastars and whose brand is known across the globe.

Real Madrid recently announced that it will be altering its logo in the Middle East so as not to upset the cultural sensitivity of people in that region.

Is there another motivation that explains why Real Madrid jettisoned its cross? Calvin answers:

It appears the motivation for the removal of the cross was cold hard cash. Real Madrid had signed a large sponsorship deal with the National Bank of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and the removal announcement came shortly after the deal was signed. Khaled al-Mehri, vice chairman for Marka who will be distributing the merchandise with the cross-less logo, had this to say, "We have to be sensitive towards other parts of the gulf that are quite sensitive to products that hold the cross."

"This may seem like a small story," Calvin observes. And yet:

On a daily basis, we are scolded about tolerance, but when it comes to Christianity, tolerance for its practitioners is certainly not in vogue.

The Center for Studies on New Religions reported that in 2016, Christianity was the most persecuted religion in the world, with 90,000 Christians killed last year for their beliefs. In America, the leaked emails of John Podesta during the recent Presidential campaign show the contempt in which mainstream Christians are viewed by our political class.

"Real Madrid is a private company and is free to do whatever it pleases with its logo," Calvin notes. "But it didn't just remove the cross from its logo. It removed the symbol of Christianity, in order to satisfy its material desires and to appease and endorse a region's ideology that welcomes religious persecution and blatant discrimination."

Calvin concludes: "Real Madrid's financial gain is the world's loss."

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